The Forgotten Zodiac

"Well...it's all okay now. This is...your second time becoming one of those things, Nate. I'm beginning to worry that the experience might be leaving imprints on your mind..." Ophile murmured.

"If you had the power to take the memories away, I'd let you." Nate sighed, leaning against Seria. He looked at her, then smiled a bit. "I'd do it again in a heartbeat, though. I don't want anyone else to suffer this way..."

Seria only cried harder and pressed against the two boys, her thin shoulders shaking. Cynyr's black ears flicked down at the sad sight she made, then gently kissed her forehead and murmured "Seria, it's okay. Nate's here. He's fine. We're all here. We're okay." He looked over to Ophile, then moved a hand out and stroked the wolf under his chin, enjoying, for only a moment, how secure he felt around the wolf.

Ophile took in Cynyr's memories from the simple touch, then nosed Nate's hand. "Let me see," He insisted.

"Ophile, I-I just said..." Nate shook his head, pulling his hand away. "I don't want this on you." Ophile watched him for a long time, then sighed and curled up behind the three, draping his tail across Nate and Seria's laps and resting his muzzle on Cynyr's. For as long as they were waiting, at any rate.

"Lexi?" Werr poked his head into the girl's room, spotting Isslia. She was curled up on the bed, writing in a small book, which she snapped shut the second Werr walked in. A diary of sorts, Werr presumed, but he didn't care all that much.

His girlfriend was sitting ridgedly on her bed, staring out the window, but she snapped out of it at his voice. "Werr?" she said hesitantly, as if wondering if she was seeing things, then fled from her bed and ran over to him, trembling and shaking. "Werr, it happened again!" she cried, tears starting their race down her pale cheeks. "This time...this time, I went on the roof! I don't know why, but Naybrin suddenly grabbed him, asking me what I was doing and saying how I was about to fall. Werr, I'm scared! I'm so scared..."

"Thank the stars for Naybrin..." Werr murmured, holding Lexi close. "No, no, don't cry. I'm here, see? In the flesh. Illusions are always cold," He took her hands in his, letting her feel his warmth. "I'm right here. No illusions." He planted a kiss on her forehead, holding her tightly. "We should go find Welk..."

"Where did he go?" Isslia asked quietly.

"I don't know. He wouldn't go far, though..."

"Ah, Werr. You're back. Good," Forin stopped in the hallway, a glass of water in his hand. "Any news?"

Werr sighed heavily. "Not now, Forin, I...I don't think it's a good idea to tell you..."

"Oh? What do we have to do...hurt him? He'll understand. We'll do it."

"No, it's not--"

"Submerge him in holy water?"

"No, I--" Werr was starting to get a little annoyed. Forin was relentless.

"Hurt someone he cares for to knock him back into his senses? I can take that any day."

"You know what? Fine. I'll tell you. We can't help him. There's nothing we can do." Werr snapped bitterly.

Forin stared for a very long while, then slowly turned and walked back to his room. Werr watched him, expecting a scream of anger, something, but there was nothing. Dead silence.

"Well...he took that better than I expected," Werr sighed, looking back down at Lexi. "Will you be okay?"

Lexi shivered, sobbing against Werr's neck, then said "Wh-what...will you do about Luen, then?" She had instantly forgotten her own fear in light of the thought of someone else in pain. A sign of her growing abilites as a healer. She sniffed and wiped a few more tears away, clinging tightly to Werr as if afraid that if she let go for only a second, he would vanish or she would be taken over.

"I don't know...I honestly don't know. All we can do now is plead with the Goddess...and hope." Werr sighed. "I wonder if Forin heard me at all, now that I think about it, I--"

One second he had been talking, the next, flying down the hallway at high speeds. He had been wrenched away from Lexi by what appeared to be Forin; but made out of an odd black-red crystalline substance. His eyes, glowing red shapes, were twisted into something malicious. Forin landed on top of Werr, starting to punch him; fire burst out around the king, but Forin just grabbed the staff and threw it away. He punched a few more times, then stood and literally ripped a door off of it's hinges, holding it above Werr.

"HOW DO I FIX HIM?!" Forin demanded, his voice hardly his own. "Tell me!"

"I...d-do-don't know..." Werr wheezed, trying desperately to catch his breath. He started crawling away, terrified of the monster that Forin had apparently become. Forin just brought the door down on Werr's back, pinning him to the floor with a bit of extra weight from his foot. Forin took a decorative sword off the wall, not even thinking for a second before moulding it with his own crystalline form, turning his arm into a weapon the same way he did before. He had tested it earlier; it was more than just Vorpal. He could do this with any weapon, even one he had been hurt with. All it took was contact, and the weapon was as good as his.

Forin stabbed the sword down next to Werr's face, pressing the king's cheek into the blade, causing blood to spill. "Tell me." He gave the simple demand, snarling in a dark voice that Werr had never heard from him before.

Lexi screamed and ran from the room she was in, staring, terrified beyond words, at Forin. A louder scream echoed from the room Forin shared with Luna and Diana, however. And it was a scream of pain. Lexi forced herself up and ran into the room, only to shriek and clap her hands over her mouth in horror.

Luna was jerking and twitching on the ground, as if having some sort of seizure, and cracks were forming along her arms and legs.

But before Lexi could touch her, she heard the horrible crunching sound of part of the ceiling caving in elsewhere.

Naybrin withered on the floor, Werr's wounds mirrored onto his own, then he charged at Forin and barrled him aside. "What are you thinking, lad?!" he shouted, snarling. "What is this going to solve?"

"EVERYTHING!" Forin screamed, landing easily on his feet in spite of Naybrin's strength and the force with which he was thrown. "He knows things! He always has a plan, he always has something to do, he knows how to fix things!" Something in his mind connected, and he darted to Luna's side, picking her hand up in his. He ran his fingers through her breaking hair, murmuring soft things to her. "Embrace it, my dearest, let the power take you. It doesn't hurt...look at me, Luna, I'm strong. You can be strong too..."

"Forin," Diana was sobbing. She was paler than normal, and she was already running a fever. "Forin, go back to normal."

"But--"

"That's an or-order!" She wailed. There was a flash of light, and instantly, Forin returned to his old form. Outside, Werr heaved himself back to his feet, gasping for air still. He collapsed in Naybrin's hands, feeling rather...beat up. Every one of Forin's punches, to his face, his arms, his chest, had felt like a blow from a Tartaran Death Mace. Something Werr had only felt once, and back then, he had nearly died. Skies above, it hurt...but it was only blunt damage. It wouldn't kill him, and it didn't feel like his bones were broken...jarred, sure. Broken, no.

Naybrin was panting as well, as every wound on Werr was now reflected on himself. He spent a moment grooming himself with his tongue, causing his wounds to begin to heal, then administered the same treatment to Werr. "Lay still, lay still," the old dragon soothed, blinking his large green eyes down at his bonded. "Let it work. Lexi, child, you can come close now."

Lexi took slow, hesitant steps forward, tears flowing like a river down her narrow face.

Luna also didn't seem to be doing that great. She screamed and screamed and screamed, jerking her hands away from Forin like his touched burned. She wailed in a broken sort of voice, curling up into a feeble ball and rocking back and forth, calling for Galai, her mother, to save her from the pain.

Werr wasn't doing good at the holding still part. It took a lot of self-control not to writhe and wither in Naybrin's paws. He rolled over, taking Lexi's hand into his and squeezing to try and stifle the pain. "Le-Lexi...hi...ag-again..." He rasped, struggling to hold his smile. He winced terribly as Naybrin licked his cheek again, to reinforce the healing on his cut. "What...what was th-that? Wh-who attacked me?" He blundered over his own speech, then promptly spat out a mouthful of blood.

Forin backed up a pace, then slowly took Diana's hand and started pulling her away. "Come, Diana," He murmured. "I'm causing more pain than good, here."

"Where are we going?" She questioned, looking back at Luna sadly. She was more inclined to go with Forin at his next words, though.

"We're going to find Luen. Spy!" Her summons called into the hallway. "Would you come with us? We could use your help..."

"Oh...okay. Just be gentle with me," The chimera poked out of Nate and Ophile's room, then hopped up into Diana's arms.

"Right." Forin started off, passing Naybrin, Werr and Lexi on his way to the stairs. "I'm leaving. For your protection." He said over his shoulder. "Lexi, kindly remind Welk that if he does not find a way to either break the curse or sacrifice a woman to Yemara, Diana will die. And he will die next. If not by my hands, then by Luna's, I'm sure. If she's still alive by then..." He sighed, leading Diana down the stairs and out of the inn.

((You did have a plan to save Luen, right?))

Vorpal, who was hanging from his sheath on Forin's back, let out a small sigh before going quiet.

Naybrin watched them go, then said "We must further our efforts in helping little Diana. If we do not, it is not her alone we condemn to death." He gave Werr another lick, placed almost thoughtfully, then shifted as Lexi pulled her frail figure into his hands, wrapping her arms around Werr and crying against his neck.

Naybrin sighed, then said "We'll look for Welk momentarily. Once you're healed up, Werr. I would have Seria tend to you, but she has been stressed and tired, as of late. I will have to make do, in this matter."

((I do.

There's a plant known as Wolf's Bane that grows in the mountains. As you could probably tell, it's used to ward off wolves/werewolves. Stuff enough of that down Luen's throat and it will burn the werewolf out of him. Very painful and there's a chance it will burn him out too, leaving nothing behind inside him, but it's a chance they would have to take.

Not that it'll be easy getting it into him. Werewolves hatehatehate that flower with a burning passion, as it's literally poison to them. It is the only chance anyone that as become a werewolf has of returning to normal, and it's a very slim chance indeed.))

(('Kay. Just asking, 'cuz Cyprus already mentioned that Yemara could fix it.))

"Skies above..." Werr murmured, wrapping his arms around her in turn. "I'm sorry, Lexi...should someone fi-find out wh-what's wrong with Luna?" He looked up at Naybrin, frowning. There was still screaming, and it was only getting worse. Werr could have sworn that he had heard Forin say that she should 'embrace the power', whatever that meant. Had Forin really attacked him? How...how power crazed could one get?

((Yemara is a poop and I don't like her. The end. :3))

Lexi shivered at Luna's continued wailing, wondering if she would be okay, then said "I want to get out, Naybrin. Naybrin, please, take us out, take us outside now, please..."

Naybrin blinked at her desperation, then quickly turned and carried them outside, into the sunlight. "Stay here while I go and see if I can help Luna," he said, then turned and went back inside.

Lexi curled up around Werr, unable to quell her tears.

((Okay. : D))

Werr laid still for her, stroking her hair back and trying to help her calm down. Isslia was already outside, sitting against the wall and writing in her book again. She looked up once she realized Werr and Lexi were there, and she sighed, not really liking the sound of crying. Girls had always cried in the pub, and it was always an unsettling sound for Isslia to hear. Someone had been too rough with them, or some other mess. There had always been problems in their 'work situation'.

But Isslia didn't speak a word about it. She didn't want to. She didn't want the pity of these people, nor did she want them to be sad. They were sad enough as it was...

A shadow suddenly raced past overhead, but by the time they looked up, it was gone. Werr had a feeling of what it was, though, and he was right.

Welk was flying at his utmost skill, soaring like a bolt of lightning across the skies, beyond able to hear them if they called for him.

He was doing his best to let off steam, but the thrill he normally got from flying so fast and so dangerously only seemed to be making it worse. He twisted sharply in the air and became a living bolt of fire, arching through the clouds like a shooting star. His beautiful, glittering golden wings caught the light of the sun, shimmering and shifting like liquid, molten gold.

Isslia watched quietly, but when she couldn't see anymore, she looked back down at her book. Welk would be back down eventually, she was fairly certain. In fact...Isslia stood and started to walk away. Towards the market. She knew most of the villagers here; she wondered if they still remembered her from when she was a little child. But with giving no reason for her leaving, would Welk worry? She wondered as she wandered away. Would he be even slightly concerned? Would they leave without her? She wouldn't mind that quite so much. She could make a new life for herself here. Young as she was, people always needed farmhands, and that was a job that fed well and payed fairly decently. Enough to live comfortably by. Isslia silently questioned her own thought process. She didn't really want to stay here. She was just thinking about what she would do if they left her here.

There was a sudden burst of wind right over her, then Welk alighted delicately by her side in human form. "Hey," he said breathlessly. "What're you doing? Saw you walking off, thought you might like some company, blah blah blah." He smiled, still breathing hard, then said "If you want to be alone, I understand. I just realized I might've intruded on your alone time, if that's what you were doing. I can go fly some more, if you want." He turned and spread his wings, crouching in order to ready himself for a leap upwards.

Isslia looked over at him, then stopped. "No, wait," She said before she could catch her own tongue. "Don't just go. I..." She shuffled her foot against the ground, not too sure what to say. "I could use the company. No one else really pays too much attention to me, so..." Some part of her knew that they just...didn't know what to say to her. She wasn't an oddball, but somehow, 'I'm sorry your time as a slave was so terrible' didn't quite seem to be a nice conversation starter. Besides, they all had their own problems...Isslia had witnessed Forin's transformation, and his attack. It hadn't been pleasant. Even she, with no magical abilities and only natural life-force, had felt the sheer amounts of power coming off of Forin in massive waves.

Welk paused, still crouching on the ground, then straightened and said "Okay. Let's walk." He left his wings out, not seeming to notice the looks he was getting from the people around them. Clearly there had never been a lerloch quite like him before. He looked like he was part half-cat, part avon. Which he wasn't.

He flicked his tail, then asked politely "Can I hold your hand? Would that be okay? Or not?" His courtesy concerned her was touching and sweet. She had probably never seen someone quite as caring as he was. Everything about him spoke of loyalty and tenderness.

Though there was that underlying tone of excitedable energy about him.